General Mic Shootout - Which sounds the best? Do they all suck?

MotoAdventureMe

/tavisbogue
Nov 17, 2013
64
53
18
47
Pa
www.motoadventure.me
I ride a
950 Adventure
Thanks for the comments so far everyone.

All the mics were run straight into a Sony FDR-X3000.

I'll post up what each combo was once I get enough feedback. Don't want to influence the results yet :).
 
  • Like
Reactions: R-Rated

Panotaker

Wannabie Member
Jul 25, 2017
41
30
18
67
Austin, Texas
I ride a
2008 Yamaha FJR-1300
All microphones sound more or less the same at low speeds. Getting good audio at over 60 mph is a whole different ball game. Most of my riding is between 60 to 90 mph, and getting rid of wind noise at those speeds is tough as hell. I think I got close to figuring it out last fall. I will do more testing this spring. I also have an FDR-X3000, and just started experimenting with a headphone volume control hooked up to the microphone. The volume input on the FDR-X3000 is way too loud, so I think that volume control might help, but the main problem I have is wind noise.
 

HippoDrone

Admin
Jan 2, 2017
7,683
7,006
113
West Sussex, UK
I ride a
1984 Honda CB100-N
2012 Moto Guzzi V7
2017 Suzuki GSX-R750
2020 Beta 390RR
2022 Aprilia Tuareg 660
All microphones sound more or less the same at low speeds. Getting good audio at over 60 mph is a whole different ball game. Most of my riding is between 60 to 90 mph, and getting rid of wind noise at those speeds is tough as hell. I think I got close to figuring it out last fall. I will do more testing this spring. I also have an FDR-X3000, and just started experimenting with a headphone volume control hooked up to the microphone. The volume input on the FDR-X3000 is way too loud, so I think that volume control might help, but the main problem I have is wind noise.
What do you do to reduce it?
 

Panotaker

Wannabie Member
Jul 25, 2017
41
30
18
67
Austin, Texas
I ride a
2008 Yamaha FJR-1300
First, I have a Yamaha FJR-1300, with a motorized Windshield. I adjust that so most of the wind goes over my head. My helmet is a Shoe RF-1200 with the nose guard and wind guard installed. My microphone right now is the Sony ECM-CS3, which is a small stereo Lav mic. I have foam covers on both ends of the microphone. That seems to work pretty good at 70/75 mph. I'll be doing more testing as it warms up outside.
 
  • Like
Reactions: HippoDrone

HippoDrone

Admin
Jan 2, 2017
7,683
7,006
113
West Sussex, UK
I ride a
1984 Honda CB100-N
2012 Moto Guzzi V7
2017 Suzuki GSX-R750
2020 Beta 390RR
2022 Aprilia Tuareg 660
ahh cool. I got some fur fabric off ebay/amazon and used that to make my own dead-cat and lined the chin piece with it too.
 

MotoAdventureMe

/tavisbogue
Nov 17, 2013
64
53
18
47
Pa
www.motoadventure.me
I ride a
950 Adventure
OK, here's what they all were:

A - Sena 20S mic + volume control
B - Sena 20S
C - Movo GM100 + volume control
D - Movo GM100
E - Audio-Technica ATR-3350 + volume control
F - Audio-Technica ATR-3350
 

F4celess

Cold
Dec 20, 2015
548
362
63
31
I ride a
Yamaha Fazer
This informs my mic upgrade for this season, thanks. Seems like the Audio-Technica one is discontinued but a newer variant is in stock on Amazon, now if only the shipping rates wasn't as expensive as the mic itself I would be a happy man.

It seems that E-F mic are powered, how does that work with the camera? My Hero3 has no mic options like Hero5-6 does.
 
Last edited:

F4celess

Cold
Dec 20, 2015
548
362
63
31
I ride a
Yamaha Fazer
It takes a little button battery.

You can get a usb to mic adapter for the gopro, I use that same mic on my Hero3 as well.

I have a mic adapter already and I think I'll get one with the mic as well. Old mic was from DealExtreme and it was pretty much garbage, but it was like 2 bucks so meh.
 

HippoDrone

Admin
Jan 2, 2017
7,683
7,006
113
West Sussex, UK
I ride a
1984 Honda CB100-N
2012 Moto Guzzi V7
2017 Suzuki GSX-R750
2020 Beta 390RR
2022 Aprilia Tuareg 660
I am quite interested in the powered mics, do they have a 3.5mm jack and work on the GoPro Hero 5/6 do you know?
 

F4celess

Cold
Dec 20, 2015
548
362
63
31
I ride a
Yamaha Fazer
I am quite interested in the powered mics, do they have a 3.5mm jack and work on the GoPro Hero 5/6 do you know?

I remember seeing the menus of the Hero 5/6 having mic options including accepting powered mics. It would be weird if my Hero3 takes them but a hero 5 won't.
 

HippoDrone

Admin
Jan 2, 2017
7,683
7,006
113
West Sussex, UK
I ride a
1984 Honda CB100-N
2012 Moto Guzzi V7
2017 Suzuki GSX-R750
2020 Beta 390RR
2022 Aprilia Tuareg 660
the 5 and 6 does take them, just wondering about those specific mics.... as they will fix all my issues with GoPro if I can get the levels right with them :)
 

HDMOTO

Photographer/MotoVlogger
Apr 11, 2016
76
26
18
Melbourne, Australia.
I ride a
2005 Kawasaki Ninja ZX6R
My setup currently sucks, I’m getting a new one soon and will make a video on setup I think. It’s a hard one for me to get right
 

F4celess

Cold
Dec 20, 2015
548
362
63
31
I ride a
Yamaha Fazer
How did you manage the cabling? Some of these have really long cables from what I can see. like 3-4m. That's a lot to tuck into the helmet.
 
  • Like
Reactions: HippoDrone

Winners Video

Website Supported by Ipswich SEO

Latest posts